Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 26.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 363,133 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75,183 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Palo Alto Networks worth $107,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 61.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 55 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1,071.4% in the 2nd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 82 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Capital One Financial cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Redburn Atlantic boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Insider Activity

In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $281.14 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.30 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $297.44 and a 200-day moving average of $290.12. The company has a market cap of $90.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.